During his four seasons in Croatia, Bišćan scored 11 goals in 84 appearances in domestic leagues, which brought attention of foreign clubs to the promising midfielder.

On 8 December 2000, Bišćan contract was bought-out by Liverpool for £5.5 million at the behest of its manager, Gérard Houllier,[3] having been sought by Juventus, Barcelona, Ajax and Milan.

His debut came in a Premier League match against Ipswich Town, which Liverpool lost 1–0, with Bišćan coming off the bench to replace Christian Ziege in 71st minute.

Although Bišćan failed to live up to expectations, he is fondly remembered by Liverpool fans after his impressive final year at the club.

During this time, he was regularly approached by Dinamo Zagreb director Zdravko Mamić, who was interested in bringing Bišćan back to his home club.

Although he was criticized for his lacking performances by the fans, Bišćan rose to become the captain of the club after the departure of Luka Modrić to Tottenham Hotspur.

[9] Bišćan's debut appearance for the Croatia national team came on a UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying match against Macedonia in Skopje on 5 June 1999.

[17] After a slew of good results, Bišćan ended the 2018–19 season in the second place in the championship, and won the Croatian Cup defeating Dinamo 3–1 in the final.

[19] In August the same year, Bišćan led the team to two victories in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League over Scottish side Aberdeen.

[21] After Croatia U21 lost a Euro 2021 qualifier 2–1 against Scotland, head coach Nenad Gračan resigned on 11 September 2019 and was succeeded by Bišćan on 1 October.

[27][28] However, after drawing 0–0 with the Czech Republic four days later, on 7 September, Croatia were forced to win all their remaining games to have a chance to qualify directly.

[31] However, thanks to a high 7–0 win over Lithuania and Scotland losing to Greece away on 17 November, Croatia secured the second place in their qualifying group.

[39] However, during the month, several important players were ruled out, mostly due to injuries,[40][41] such as Josip Brekalo,[42] Boško Šutalo,[43] Joško Gvardiol,[44] Luka Sučić[45] and Borna Sosa.

[46] After the opening match, the 1–0 loss to Portugal on 25 March, Bišćan was criticized for his catenaccio tactics that were deemed uncharacteristic for Croatian football, which is best known for its midfielders.

[49] However, despite losing 2–1 to England in the final group game on 31 March, Croatia qualified for the quarter-finals for the first time in their history due to a better goal difference.

[52][53] He was sacked on 21 August of the same year after Dinamo were eliminated by AEK Athens in the third qualifying round of the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League season.